Visit Savannah draws praise for social media

BiS Connect

A well known tourism industry consultant has given a thumbs up to Visit Savannah, the city’s tourism marketing agency, and Amy Brock, its social media manager.

Betsy A. Decillis wrote that she has put @VisitSavannah on the top of her “Must-Follow DMOs on Twitter.” A DMO is a “destination marketing organization.”

Her list of 100 DMOs on Twitter includes major U.S. cities such as and Philadelphia, U.S. states such as Ohio, New York, Florida and Arizona and international DMOs such as Great Britain and New Zealand.

“Being No. 1 on Twitter among our peers in the industry speaks volumes to the quality of our content across our social media platforms,” said Visit Savannah President Joseph Marinelli. “We have intentionally focused our marketing strategy on social media and do our best to stay ahead of marketing trends.”

The rankings are based on a “klout” score, which measures influence through social media, and on the number of tourism professional followers on Twitter.

Decillis praises Brock for her “genius” saying: “She knows all of the networks like the back of her hand. She is consistently finding new networks that are on the verge of exploding and making sure that Savannah is the first DMO on them.”

Decillis named Brock and Melissa Yao Hille, Visit Savannah’s chief marketing officer, among the top 100 tourism professionals to follow in the world. Brock is ranked number 22, and Yao Hille is ranked 69.

A pioneer for DMOs on Pinterest, Visit Savannah recently was invited to pin on national boards from Lucky Magazine and Epicurious.com.

“We are so fortunate to have Amy Brock as our social media manager,” Hille said. “Amy’s creative use of pictures, witty and fun tone of voice, coupled with real-time information and response, is the reason why our social media presence is so relevant and strong.”